Hollywood handle static

Attendance and handle at the Hollywood Park fall meeting, which ended Monday, dropped slightly from the 2003 meeting.

When statewide, interstate, and account wagering figures were included, the all-sources handle averaged $8,944,323, a drop of one-half of 1 percent. There was surprising growth of 1.3 percent in intertrack handle in the state, a category that has been in decline in recent years.

The ontrack average handle of $1,313,553 was a decline of 2 percent. On many weekdays, ontrack handle failed to reach $1 million.

Account wagering, through the telephone and Internet, rose 14 percent, to an average of $592,528 a day.

The ontrack average attendance of 6,216 marked a decline of 4.6 percent.

Rene Douglas landed his first riding title at a Southern California track with 37 wins, two more than Tyler Baze. Victor Espinoza finished third with 31 wins.

Trainer Doug O'Neill led all trainers with 17 wins, three more than Bob Baffert and five more than Mike Harrington. O'Neill won the training title at Del Mar earlier this year.

Declan's Moon, the undefeated winner of the Hollywood Futurity, was voted horse of the meeting.